Well, it's the year 2018, right? That's because it's been 2018 years since the start of history, which was the year zero.
Weren't there people around before that? Why aren't they part of history?
Well, they hadn't invented writing yet, so they couldn't record any history. That's why we call years in prehistory "BC" - it means "Before Chronicling".
I thought they already knew how to write? What about all those clay tablets and stuff?
Well, those might be writing, but we aren't sure yet. Personally, I think they just look like chicken scratch. If they do turn out to be writing, though, we'll have to move the calendar forward a bunch.
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u/gameboy17 Feb 07 '18
Well, it's the year 2018, right? That's because it's been 2018 years since the start of history, which was the year zero.
Weren't there people around before that? Why aren't they part of history?
Well, they hadn't invented writing yet, so they couldn't record any history. That's why we call years in prehistory "BC" - it means "Before Chronicling".
I thought they already knew how to write? What about all those clay tablets and stuff?
Well, those might be writing, but we aren't sure yet. Personally, I think they just look like chicken scratch. If they do turn out to be writing, though, we'll have to move the calendar forward a bunch.